DPRK declares armistice void

The supreme military command of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea said on Tuesday that the Korean War Armistice Agreement was null as tension continued to escalate on the Korean Peninsula.

The resolute statement came before a closed-door meeting of the United Nations Security Council, which was scheduled to be held in New York on Tuesday to discuss new sanctions against the DPRK in response to its Feb 12 nuclear test.

In the statement, an apparent response to ongoing US-Republic of Korea military exercises, a spokesperson for the Korean People's Army also said that the DPRK military will carry out more and stronger countermeasures, Xinhua News Agency reported.

ROK and US troops launched their annual joint drills on Friday, and the two-month-long Key Resolve/Foal Eagle exercises were held amid heightened tensions following the DPRK's third nuclear test, according to the Seoul-based Yonhap News Agency.

The Feb 12 nuclear test followed similar tests in 2006 and 2009.

The spokesperson in Pyongyang added that the DPRK has also decided to halt the work of its delegates at Panmunjom, where the two sides usually meet for communication and negotiations.

Panmunjom was where the Korean War Armistice Agreement was signed in July 1953, ending fighting in the three-year Korean War.

Serious protest

Shi Yuanhua, director of Center for Korean Studies under the Institute of International Studies at Fudan University in Shanghai, said the DPRK's latest harsh remarks, stronger than before, are a serious protest against the US-ROK joint drill, because the drill has mobilized more powerful weapons.

The standoff still sees no sign of abating as tensions are escalating, and "Pyongyang is also seeking to prompt Washington back to the negotiating table", Shi said.

Beijing on Tuesday responded to the ongoing US-ROK military exercises and media speculation of the DPRK's plan to stage a military drill.

China hopes all parties will do more to ease tension on the peninsula, as well as to promote peace and stability in the region, said Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying.

Military threats and international sanctions are "two of Washington's favorite ways" to deal with the DPRK, said Shi Yongming, a researcher on Asia-Pacific studies at the China Institute of International Relations.

"But the increasingly frequent joint drills by Washington and Seoul will further heighten Pyongyang's sense of insecurity, and may prompt it to go further down the nuclear road," Shi said.